Daniel Casper

Daniel "Danny" Casper (born June 18, 2001, in Briarcliff Manor, New York) is an American curler from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He currently skips his own team out of Chaska. He is a former U.S. junior champion, going on to win the silver medal at the 2023 Winter World University Games.

Career

Casper's first national success came in 2017 with a bronze medal performance at the United States U18 Curling Championships. There, his team, skipped by Chase Sinnett, went undefeated until the semifinals where they lost to Wisconsin's Michael Elwing. They then defeated Minnesota's Riley Fenson to claim third place. The following season, his team, now led by Eli Clawson, again reached the playoffs with an undefeated record before consecutive losses in the semifinals and bronze medal games, finishing fourth. In his final year of U18 eligibility, Casper skipped his own team to a bronze medal performance with a combined 5–2 record through the round robin and playoff rounds.

For the 2019–20 season, Casper continued skipping his own squad with teammates Marius Kleinas, Sam Willertz and Benjamin Grady. At the 2020 United States Junior Curling Championships, the team won three of their first four games before three consecutive losses, ultimately missing the playoffs with a 3–4 record. Then, for the 2020–21 season, Casper and Kleinas remained intact and added Ethan Sampson and Coleman Thurston as front-end players. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the team only played in one event before the cancellation of the rest of their scheduled events. At the end of the season, Casper teamed up with Rebecca Rodgers to compete in the 2021 United States Mixed Doubles Curling Championship which was held in a bio-secure bubble at the Wausau Curling Club in Wausau, Wisconsin in May 2021. There, the pair finished with a 1–4 record.

The following season, the Casper rink added Samuel Strouse to the lineup at second, shifting Sampson to third, Thurston to lead and Kleinas to alternate. This proved to be the right move for the team as they won the U.S. junior title at the start of the season, winning all ten of their games. After an 8–0 round robin record, they beat Wesley Wendling in the semifinals before defeating Aidan Oldenburg in the gold medal game. With the win, the team qualified to represent the United States at the 2022 World Junior Curling Championships. On tour that season, they played in the qualifiers for the 2021 United States Olympic curling trials, however, were unsuccessful in qualifying. At the US Open of Curling contender round, they advanced to the semifinals before being eliminated by Scott Dunnam. They also made the quarterfinals of the DeKalb Superspiel and the Curl Mesabi Classic. In May 2022, they competed in the World Junior Championships. After an opening game win against Canada, the Casper rink suffered four consecutive losses to sit at the bottom of the standings. However, they turned things around with four straight wins to end the week with a 5–4 record, just missing a playoff berth. Also during the season, Casper teamed up with Delaney Strouse at the 2022 United States Mixed Doubles Curling Championship where the pair made it all the way to the 3 vs. 4 game before being defeated by Jamie Sinclair and Rich Ruohonen.

With no years of junior eligibility left, Casper moved into the men's ranks and began skipping a new team of Luc Violette, Ben Richardson and Chase Sinnett. In the team's first event together, they went undefeated to win the Gord Carroll Curling Classic, marking Casper's first tour event victory. They also reached the final of their next event, the US Open of Curling, where they lost in an extra end to Korey Dropkin. The team next played in the playdowns for the 2023 Winter World University Games where they won all six of their games to win the event. Back on tour, they had three more playoff appearances, reaching the quarterfinals of the Nufloors Penticton Curling Classic and the finals of both the Curling Stadium Contender Series and the Curl Mesabi Classic. In the new year, the team represented the U.S. on home soil at the 2023 Winter World University Games in Saranac Lake, New York. Through the round robin, Casper led his rink to a 6–3 record, taking the third seed in the playoff bracket. In the semifinals, his rink upset Switzerland's Jan Iseli 6–3 to qualify for the championship game. There, they dropped a 5–1 decision to Great Britain's James Craik, earning the silver medal from the event. Continuing their momentum from the season, Team Casper finished 6–1 through the round robin at the 2023 United States Men's Curling Championship, taking the number one seed in the playoffs. In the 1 vs. 2 game, they faced the Olympic champion John Shuster rink where they lost 8–5. This put them in the semifinal where they upset Team Dropkin to advance to the national final. They could not take revenge on Shuster in the final, however, dropping the game 8–3 and settling for the silver medal. Casper and Strouse finished the season at the 2023 United States Mixed Doubles Curling Championship where they lost in a tiebreaker to Taylor Anderson and Ben Richardson.

Having had their most successful season to date, Team Casper continued their momentum into the 2023–24 season, finishing runner-up at their first event. A month later, at the US Open of Curling, they defeated Team Dropkin to claim their first tour title of the season. They also won the St. Paul Cash Spiel in October, defeating Rich Ruohonen in the event final. The following week, Team Casper competed in their first Grand Slam of Curling event, which they qualified for with the points they accumulated throughout the past season. Playing in the Tier 2 event of the 2023 Tour Challenge, the team finished 2–2 through the round robin, however, earned a playoff berth with a strong last stone draw total. Qualifying as the eighth seeds, Team Casper upset both Jeong Byeong-jin and Mike McEwen in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds to advance to the final against Yusuke Morozumi. There, the team shot a high 88%, securing a 6–2 victory over the Japanese and a spot in the 2024 Canadian Open in January. Back on tour, the Casper rink went undefeated at the Curl Mesabi Classic until the final where they were stopped by Tanner Horgan. In the new year, they competed in their first Tier 1 Slam, the 2024 Canadian Open where they finished with a 1–3 record. In their lone win, they beat Kevin Koe's Alberta rink in a 9–8 game. The team ended the season at the 2024 United States Men's Curling Championship where they qualified for the playoffs with a 4–3 record. After defeating Wesley Wendling in the 3 vs. 4 game, they lost to the John Shuster rink 7–5 in the semifinal. Also during the season, Casper teamed up with Vicky Persinger to reach the quarterfinals of the 2024 United States Mixed Doubles Curling Championship where they were eliminated by Shuster and Aileen Geving.

Personal life

Casper began curling at the age of eleven at the Ardsley Curling Club. He graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2024 with a strategic communications degree. He previously attended Hackley School, graduating in 2019.

Grand Slam record

Teams

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Casper, Daniel
Living people
2001 births
People from Briarcliff Manor, New York
Sportspeople from Minneapolis
American male curlers
21st-century American sportsmen
Winter World University Games medalists in curling
Medalists at the 2023 Winter World University Games
FISU World University Games silver medalists for the United States
Hackley School alumni
University of Minnesota alumni